22/03/2014 Midlands Today

Good afternoon. Cider makers in the Midlands fear production cotld be

hit by a shortage of apples following one of the wettest winters

on record. It comes as the Chancellor this week moved to help

the industry by announcing ` freeze on cider duty in the Budget. Lindsay

Doyle reports. Cider apple trees and floodwater

don't mix. At Evesbatch Court Farm in Herefordshire the meticulously

planted Orchard could be hiding a sorry secret. With the wet winter,

the young trees, we are worried about the rainfall and we are

concerned we will not see the damage until the summer. Amongst the tiny

emerging buds some of the trees are showing a greenish tinge, a possible

sign of damage, if trees st`nd in waterlogged soil for more than

fourteen days the roots can be killed off. The trees take 05 years

to grow but there is a fear they will be lost to saturated soil.

Bacteria thrives in standing water. This year's budget saw the

Chancellor George Osborne freeze the duty on ordinary cider, a dhrect

response to flooding in the West Country, for cider makers, lanner

from heaven. It is a positive step for the government to do th`t. We

are price sensitive and it hs stopping consumers buying products.

If we invest in the future, planting orchards costs a lot of mondy. Just

four months ago the National Association of Cider Makers

predicted a bumper crop for this year, the best for ten years in

fact, a little ironic but the farmers are not writing off their

saplings just yet, they shotld know by May how and if the trees fought

the deluge. A woman from Birmingham who suffered

a seizure in the street had her purse stolen by a bogus Good

Samaritan while she lay unconscious. Police say two women seemed to go to

the aid of the 25`year`old `fter she collapsed in Summer Row last month.

They've now released CCTV ilages of two women they want to speak to

about the incident. A spokesman said it wasn't clear if the two were

together and that one of thdm may have been genuinely trying to help.

Thousands of people have turned out to support a fundraising evdnt for

two hospitals which helped saved the life of a premature baby from the

Black Country. Daisy`Mae Little was born at Russells Hall Hospital in

Dudley last December weighing less than two pounds. She also rdceived

specialist care at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton. @ day of

family activities at Mary Stevens Park in Stourbridge has restlted in

more than ten thousand pounds being raised for the two hospitals.

Daisy`Mae's family say they're overwhelmed by the support they ve

received. It brings a lump to my throat. I am bowled over. I cannot

believe the response. I did not think this many people would turn up

today. Wonderful. Sport now. Let's start

with football and the Premidr League, with West Bromwich @lbion

being beaten two`nil at Hull City ` former Baggies midfielder Shane Long

getting one of those goals. Onto the Championship, a 2`1 defeat for

Birmingham City against Reading Blues still waiting for the elusive

home win. In League One, le`ders Wolves beat Sheffield United 2` .

Coventry lost three one at Brentford. Port Vale beat Tranmere

3`2. Shrewsbury beat Bradford 2`1. And a 1`1 draw there for Walsall

against Leyton Orient. In Ldague Two, Cheltenham lost 4`3 at AFC

Wimbledon, seven minutes into added time. Burton Albion lost 1`0 at

Scunthorpe. In the Skrill Conference Premier, Hereford ` who sacked their

manager in the week ` lost 2`0 to Barnet. Kidderminster drew 0`1

against Southport. Tamworth lost two one to Macclesfield. And Nuneaton

lost 1`0 to Grimsby. Let's move on to rugby now, starting

with the Aviva Premiership where Gloucester beat Newcastle 40`33 And

in the Championship, a loss there for Moseley ` 23`20 against London

Scottish. Time for a look at the weather now. Here's Kaye Forster

with the forecast. We had some lively thundery showers

this afternoon and some snow earlier. Hopefully things whll ease

down through tomorrow, not `s many showers and there should be more

sunshine. One or two of the showers continue tonight, most placds dry

out, clear spells developing as well. It will turn cold with lows of

two or three Celsius. Tomorrow morning, most plus estate dry and

bright. Some sunshine, one to showers in the afternoon. For most

of us, lovely sunshine with highs of nine or ten.

I'll be back tomorrow morning with Sunday Breakfast from seven on BBC

Hereford and Worcester. And there's more from Midlands Today at 6:5 pm

tomorrow evening. For now, bye`bye. The Wind a lot showers around at the

moment, still hale and thunder too. As we turn the wind north-westerly,

these areas will bear the brunt of the showers overnight. A chilly

night, a touch of frost in rural areas. A few showers first thing.

Sunshine too. Cloud will bubble up and showers will develop in England

and Wales. The main focus in the afternoon is an eastern areas.

Across Wales and the south-west very few showers all day. The

north-westerly wind lines the showers up in the afternoon. East

Anglia and parts of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire could see quite a few

showers. Hit or miss. All or